Project Gimmicks and their Role in the RU metagame

Hats

Hats

TOMBER LOVE
is a Top Social Media Contributor
Approved by Rarelyme. OP inspired by SV RU thread. Art by myself.

SV (2).png


In the RU metagame, gimmicks play a significant and sometimes essential role in shaping the competitive world, offering a refreshing alternative to the dominant strategies typically seen in higher tiers.

Unlike the more rigid metagames of OU or UU, the RU tier is characterized by a wider variety of viable Pokémon and strategies, creating a more open environment where creative, off-meta approaches can emerge. Gimmicks in RU, such as unconventional move choices or unorthodox EV spreads, can be surprisingly effective, capitalizing on the lack of preparation from opponents who may not expect such tactics. This unpredictability can disrupt the conventional flow of battle, granting the user an advantage through sheer surprise.

However, the lower power level in RU also means that gimmicks can be more volatile, as they often rely on specific conditions to succeed and can be easily countered by well-rounded teams. While they add diversity and excitement to the metagame, their inconsistent nature means that they are often better suited for catching opponents off-guard rather than forming the backbone of a solid, competitive team. Therefore, gimmicks in the RU metagame are valuable for their ability to introduce variety and keep the gameplay dynamic, though they require careful consideration and execution to be truly effective.

What constitutes an underrated and/or creative moveset?

  • Creative Movesets would be those that are:
  1. Not commonly seen on the ladder whatsoever.
  2. It successfully pulls off a role and is not strictly outclassed by others.
  3. It takes advantage of metagame trends.
  4. It might be able to surprise and demolish Pokemon that normally counter the usual sets, but does not become a gimmick in order to do so.
  5. It has had some success (sufficient testing/replays).
  • Underrated Movesets would be those that are:
  1. Somewhat common but still under-utilized despite being effective choices in the current metagame.
  2. Underrated sets are meant to prey on specific facets of the metagame.
What are some things that constitute a gimmick?

  • Movesets that are highly inconsistent.
  • Unviable Pokémon. Check out the Viability Rankings if you are not sure/do a nomination there instead.
  • Movesets that are inferior and ineffective compared to existing movesets, or use an obscure move for the sake of hitting an even more obscure check or counter.
Thread Rules:

  1. NO TROLL SETS. They don't add any positives to the discussion and only derail the thread. These posts may be subject to being deleted.
  2. Explain a little as to what your set does and how it accomplishes its goal.
  3. Dumping multiple sets at once is perfectly acceptable as long as all are well explained.
  4. Replays are not required, but are encouraged whenever possible. Make sure if you use replays, they aren't low on ladder and adequately reflect the niche of the set you're posting.
  5. Be nice LOL.
Posts that don't follow these rules will be deleted, so please try to keep them in mind.

Happy posting!

:deoxys-defense: CM Deoxys-Def by Hats
:fezandipiti: Thief Fezandipiti by Ming549
:espeon: Air Balloon Espeon by EviGaro
:zapdos-galar: Itemless Gapdos by Elec-ant1234
:entei: Will-O-Wisp Entei by Heatranator
:chandelure: Scarf Chandelure by Heatranator
:skuntank: AV Skuntank by Heatranator
:crawdaunt: Specs Crawdaunt by Heatranator
:toxtricity: Mixed Toxtricity by Heatranator
:thundurus: Bulky Thundurus by Heatranator
:wo-chien:Mean Look Wo-Chien by Heatranator
:mienshao: Eject Pack Acrobatics Mienshao by fluff!!
:zapdos-galar: Eject Pack Acrobatics Gapdos by fluff!!
:weezing-galar: Thief Geezing by fluff!!
:gligar: Defensive Gligar by fluff!!
:mew: Setup Sweeper Mew by fluff!!
:zoroark-hisui: Throat Spray Horoark by Canard
:flygon: Loaded Dice Flygon by Sneakyplanner
:reuniclus: OTR Reuniclus by FlamPoke
:conkeldurr: Defog Conkeldurr by fluff!!
:ribombee: Leftovers Sub QD Ribombee by fluff!!
 
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And to begin this thread...


dcr7i20-626a1a82-a3ab-4433-944d-8acc4a4449a3.gif
Deoxys-Defense @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Recover

Deoxys-Def is a mon renowned for its bulk and its ability to pose hazards and pivot. This set stands out from the rest by using its bulk and speed to destroy the opposing team. Covert Cloak allows him to gain interactions that he wouldn't normally be able to, such as being able to 1v1 the classic Fezandipiti sets as well as Jirachi without Thunder Wave. Taunt allows him to place himself on Hippowdon without worrying about a whirlwind.

Tera Fairy is more situational, allowing him to avoid being phazed by a Dragon Tail of Cyclizar. Finally, investments in speed means that it can outspeed mons with 70 speed with a adamant nature and those with 100 speed with no investment.

Here are a few replays showing him in action :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ru-776522
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2145828252-1rjx7fwodhjmpcvtsbb6tds5fpq8qjypw


Of course, this set can't sweep a team on its own. It requires a lot of support, such as dark removers, koff absorbers, statuts spreaders, etc.
 
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hello gang, I am here to extoll the values of one of RUs strongest soldiers and resident fashion icon FEZANDIPITI
1725317002182.png
this is what a legend looks like. I feel like a lot of us are familiar with what fezandipiti does, fairy move, uturn, roost, calm mind, spread tox chain procs etc etc, and largely this is also what my set here is angling for, but the "heat" part of this set is that not only is fez a fashion icon and toxic, but shes also a THIEF.

Fezandipiti
Ability: Toxic Chain
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thief
- Roost
- Alluring Voice
- U-turn

so this is smth that I cooked up while prepping for I think squeeby during r6 of ru swiss. For a support fez that last moveslot has kinda always been up in the air, whether it be like calm mind, toxic, taunt, sometimes heat wave, but something I've seen rarely if at all is thief. With this slot, support fez effectively has a 1 time knock off that can become a multiple time knock off depending on how the game goes (av bike loves to click knock off for example and fez is one of the safer knock sponges in the tier). This has come in useful both for myself as well as some of the other people I've passed the team too who have been able to steal like heavy-duty boots or lefties off of mons while also doing some chip and opening an opportunity for potential tchain procs on applicable targets. Below you can check out some replays where thief fez is doin its job stealin items and being annoying. The rest of the spread is pretty standard, alluring voice here to ruin vincune dreams as well as preventing any chance of a stray moonblast sp atk drop giving smth like bisharp +2 atk for free. Enough speed to outpace up to slither, which you could definitely make faster but for the purposes of the original team I used this on, I think the slither benchmark was enough.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ru-781400 - me vs squeeby
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ru-782818?p2 - ampha vs elfuseon
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ru-788124 - ampha vs tetris
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ru-786309 - not everything is sweet in life so heres a replay where thief was actively bad lol (still clutched the game tho) bdpl week 2 me vs tsuki
 
Oh baby do I have one.

Espeon @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic Noise
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss

Running into someone who insists on using mono-eq Hippo? This bad boy here completely owns it and allows you to turn the tables on it making it completely useless. With some bulk and a good tera, Espeon is surprisingly hard to take down as well, and Draining Kiss recovery gives it actual longevity, especially after tera. Note that this also is really annoying for the more popular Umbreon. Replay from seasonals here where it won the game until I lost the 50/50 on tera with it. Good mechanic btw, very skillful

You probably do want some recovery, sure, but losing Shadow Ball and running into Jirachi is such a massive pain. RU isn't your standard Regi meta this gen, so annoyingly you do have to hit steel types that actually hit decently hard now. Pity. Psychic Noise is um a personal choice but I really like the move, helps vs some recovery spam but obviously psyshock is worth using as well. Also Tera Steel actually owns stall that relies on Muk-Alola to Clear Smog but uh you do lose a lot of potential with that.
 
Here's one for the books that I and others have touted on the RU Discord that I think has some legit merit.

:sv/zapdos-galar:

Zapdos (Zapdos-Galar)
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunderous Kick
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off
- Taunt

That's right, it's itemless gapdos. While this set loses out on the speed and sheer power of the choice band/ choice scarf sets, it makes up for it for being able to completely blindside most people while still retaining the positives of Gapdos's power. I'll be real, I can't tell you how many time's I've led with this set onto a cyclizar and completely decimated a gengar switching in with knock, it's hilarious how often it happens. But the real merit to this set is it's flexibility and ability to give you a free Knock Off switch-in right out of the gate in a match. You could run U-turn and probably be pretty solid with that set, but Taunt is actually kinda nasty on Gapdos, as it lets you prevent it from becoming set-up fodder in some matchups (it particularly lets you make Hippowdon's day miserable, knocking the Helm and preventing rocks). Thunderous Kick is probably the most off-brand move here, but with Itemless Gapdos's flexibility it's actually really solid, allowing you to soften up and pressure switch-in's, allowing you to continue your offense with a team-member or just go for a hail-mary and get some chip in on a valuable target. Like, since it reduces your opponent's defense it's essentially the same as getting an attack raise, (ok it's not the same but your damage increases is the big thing, meaning this is the only way you can offensively "boost up"). Try it out, it's honestly pretty solid, and you'll be surprised at how long it can stick around when Gapdos's two main stab options don't make it die in 2-3 turns. Of course the whole speed thing is an issue at times, and it does need someone faster to help clean up, but it's a strong breaker and can pull its weight.

Tera Steel lets it go blow-for-blow with the fairys of the tier and not get completely clowned on by Fez and Garde


252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 0 Def Okidogi: 468-552 (123.1 - 145.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO (assuming they switch into a T-kick)

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 144+ Def Fezandipiti: 240-283 (63.1 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 330-390 (123.5 - 146%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 320-378 (92.7 - 109.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO (93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock)

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Krookodile: 344-408 (103.9 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 210-248 (53.2 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 178-210 (45.1 - 53.2%) -- 32.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 237-279 (60.1 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Basculegion-F: 294-346 (77.1 - 90.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Suicune: 154-183 (38.1 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk burned Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 4 Def Suicune: 116-137 (28.7 - 33.9%) -- 0.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
 
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Well, looks like I finally have an outlet for my madness.

Will-o-Wisp Entei
:sv/entei:
Entei @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Sacred Fire
- Will-O-Wisp
- Crunch
Entei has quickly become one of my favourite mons in RU due to its versatility, and wisp entei is another innovation for this mon. While sacred fire is good and all for getting burns, sometimes it can feel a bit inconsistent. Will-o-wisp alleviates this a bit, by ensuring the target gets burned if the attack lands. It also helps a lot against boosted bisharp, which is a very dangerous mon. Due to sucker punch needing the opponent to attack in order to work, wisp entei ensures bisharp is going to be crippled, allowing entei to safely click sacred fire to KO bisharp. Heavy Duty Boots helps entei with its hazard problems, and ensures you don't lock yourself into an unfavourable move.

Scarf Chandelure
:sv/chandelure:
Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Tera Blast
- Trick
Scarf Chandelure is a very cool set that can do quite a lot of damage against offensive teams, while not being horrible into defensive teams due to trick and its power. With its 145 base special attack, chandelure is very threatening, allowing it to easily clean up teams. Flamethrower and shadow ball are stab standards, while trick helps chandelure cripple walls by giving them its scarf. Tera fairy with tera blast allows chandelure to smack cyclizar hard, which usually walls it otherwise. If you can somehow deal with cyclizar through other means, then energy ball is a good alternative to smack bulky waters even harder.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2177110341 Chandelure didn't do a whole lot this game, but it did ko the kilowattrel and chip the blastoise
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2177107339 Though my opponent did misclick by pressing recover instead of stored power, chandelure was still able to put out a win with its speed and power, along with trick utility.

AV Skuntank
:sv/skuntank:
Skuntank @ Assault Vest
Ability: Aftermath
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Temper Flare
- Gunk Shot
You probably already know about this set if you know me, but I would like to officially share it here. I was looking for a dark type that both had sucker punch and knock off, and out of the options, skuntank seemed like the best fit. With AV, its able to temporarily take on special attackers and cripple them. The speed evs outspeed max speed necrozma, with the rest going into attack and then hp. Gunk shot is a great stab option on skuntank, but the main differentiating factors Skuntank has over other dark types is temper flare and aftermath. Temper flare is a really cool move on skuntank, as the main switch in to it is steel types, who are immune to gunk shot. However, with temper flare, this is unwise as it becomes a 150 bp move that will smack them around. Tera fire increases the power of temper flare even further, while also making it immune to will-o-wisp. Finally, aftermath means at worst, skuntank can take around 30% of the opponents health with it if they use a contact attack, which a lot of physical attacks are.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2169314311 Skuntank didn't do a whole lot this match due to an unfortunate scald burn, but was able to at least heavily chip down the krookodile, basically taking it out of the game.

Choice Specs Crawdaunt
:sv/crawdaunt:
Crawdaunt @ Choice Specs
Ability: Adaptability
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Knock Off
- Sludge Wave
- Dark Pulse
This is a set that a lot of people probably know by now, but here it is, Specs Craw. Specs Craw takes advantage of its serviceable 90 special attack to fire off powerful stab moves to wreck the physical walls that usually switch into it. This can often result in OHKO's on the likes of geezing and amoonguss that might be able to stomach a hit. This can open the doors for teammates that are usually walled by them (hilligant is a great partner, as its commonly walled by geezing and can use healing wish for craw), but even after the suprise factor has worn off, specs craw still can be pretty great. It still hits like a truck and can use knock off to cripple special walls like chansey and empoleon. Tera ghost means it can suprise fighting types and fire off a big attack.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2187345797 Despite my opponent suspecting that the craw is specs, it still is able to pick up 2 kos and heavily chip the hoodra.

Mixed Toxtricity
:sv/toxtricity:
Toxtricity @ Throat Spray
Ability: Punk Rock
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Shift Gear
- Boomburst
- Overdrive
- Drain Punch
This was the set I used for one of my RUWC Round One matches, and its a really cool set. Mixed toxtricity can decimate a weakened team if its able to set up, while doing quite well into stall. With drain punch, it can recover its health over a battle and stay healthy, allowing it to beat flash cannon locked hoodra and magnezone if its chipped prior. More importantly, it smacks chansey for a decent amount of damage, and if toxt is at +2 attack, then it can actually outheal seismic toss, which is great. Boomburst with throat spray means it can deal massive burst damage, especially with tera normal. A really cool mon, that while it can struggle at times, can put in lots of work in certain matchups.

Bulky Thundurus
:sv/thundurus:
Thundurus (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 204 HP / 136 SpA / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot
- Thunder Wave
I usually don't share my TOTW ideas, since I already go into detail on them there, but this is honestly one of my better sets, so I thought I would share it. As I have stated in the past, I have been underwhelmed by thundurus' bulk in order to do its job as an offensive pivot, as while its typing is good, even weak neutral hits heavily damage it. This set alleviates that issue a bit, while still having plenty of firepower to not be a sitting duck. The HP ev's allow it to survive one specs magnezone volt switch from full, or two seperate cyclizar draco meteor's. It still has enough special attck to OHKO krookodile with focus blast after stealth rocks. The rest of the evs are put into speed, which allows it to outspeed base 100s, with anything faster not liking t-wave. Overall, a really cool set.

Mean Look Wo Chien
:sv/wo chien:
Wo-Chien @ Leftovers
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Mean Look
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Mean look Wo Chien is a cool trapper idea that takes advantage of mons that decide to stay in on it and eventually beat them, opening the door for teammates. While dropping foul play or ruination is hard, mean look can have some real benefits. It makes wo chien a lot less passive, as even if you don't successfully trap something, they still won't want to stay in on wo chien out of fear of being trapped, which means it can knock off a lot more targets. The rest of the set is standard.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2192173705 While I do have to tera here, wo chien is able to defeat the empoleon to allow reuniclus+fezandipiti to put an enormous amount of pressure on the opposing team, eventually leading to a win.
 
Creative sets

:bw/mienshao:
Mienshao @ Eject Pack :eject pack:
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Acrobatics
- Ice Spinner

Winner of Week 5 of Next Best Thing, Heatranator's Eject Pack Mienshao can click its STAB and keep the momentum no matter what the opponent switches into, racking up Regenerator recovery in the process, and enables a strong Acrobatics capable of nailing many of Mienshao's checks, such as Chesnaught and Okidogi, and is just a great middle ground when you don't really know what your opp will switch into. If you Tera Flying, you basically become Gapdos but with Regenerator. Speaking of which...

:sv/zapdos-galar:
Zapdos-Galar @ Eject Pack :eject pack:
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off
- Taunt

Elec-ant1234 said:
Here's one for the books that I and others have touted on the RU Discord that I think has some legit merit.

:sv/zapdos-galar:

Zapdos (Zapdos-Galar)
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunderous Kick
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off
- Taunt

That's right, it's itemless gapdos. While this set loses out on the speed and sheer power of the choice band/ choice scarf sets, it makes up for it for being able to completely blindside most people while still retaining the positives of Gapdos's power. I'll be real, I can't tell you how many time's I've led with this set onto a cyclizar and completely decimated a gengar switching in with knock, it's hilarious how often it happens. But the real merit to this set is it's flexibility and ability to give you a free Knock Off switch-in right out of the gate in a match. You could run U-turn and probably be pretty solid with that set, but Taunt is actually kinda nasty on Gapdos, as it lets you prevent it from becoming set-up fodder in some matchups (it particularly lets you make Hippowdon's day miserable, knocking the Helm and preventing rocks). Thunderous Kick is probably the most off-brand move here, but with Itemless Gapdos's flexibility it's actually really solid, allowing you to soften up and pressure switch-in's, allowing you to continue your offense with a team-member or just go for a hail-mary and get some chip in on a valuable target. Like, since it reduces your opponent's defense it's essentially the same as getting an attack raise, (ok it's not the same but your damage increases is the big thing, meaning this is the only way you can offensively "boost up"). Try it out, it's honestly pretty solid, and you'll be surprised at how long it can stick around when Gapdos's two main stab options don't make it die in 2-3 turns. Of course the whole speed thing is an issue at times, and it does need someone faster to help clean up, but it's a strong breaker and can pull its weight.

Tera Steel lets it go blow-for-blow with the fairys of the tier and not get completely clowned on by Fez and Garde


252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 0 Def Okidogi: 468-552 (123.1 - 145.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO (assuming they switch into a T-kick)

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 144+ Def Fezandipiti: 240-283 (63.1 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 330-390 (123.5 - 146%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 320-378 (92.7 - 109.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO (93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock)

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Krookodile: 344-408 (103.9 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 210-248 (53.2 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 178-210 (45.1 - 53.2%) -- 32.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 237-279 (60.1 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Basculegion-F: 294-346 (77.1 - 90.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Suicune: 154-183 (38.1 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk burned Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 4 Def Suicune: 116-137 (28.7 - 33.9%) -- 0.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Click to expand...
You know what's better than itemless gapdos? itemless gapdos but you also get a 120 BP switching move. Close Combat first on something to get the momentum early, and you then have a very similar set, with CC over Thunderous Kick, both moves have their upsides and their downsides.

:sv/weezing-galar:
Weezing-Galar
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thief
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Toxic / Defog / Pain Split

A disruptive Geezing set that may trade off the ability to Defog or have self-healing in exchange for basically Knock Off as well as enough speed to always outspeed Bisharp (and other >=239 speed mons) and burn it before it Iron Heads you. This set counts on Weezing's defensive profile, which completely shuts down many common mons such as non-Gunk Shot Krookodile, Umbreon, or Slither Wing, to justify the loss of bulk coming from a +Speed 252 EVs investment.


Underrated sets

:dp/gligar:
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic

copy/pasting from my VR post: Gligar keeps climbing in popularity thanks to its incredible role compression for BO teams. Ground immunity, Electric immunity, Fighting resistance, Okidogi switch-in, Rocks or Spikes setter, Toxic, U-turn for momentum and to not let Taunt/Sub mons sit on you, and all around incredible physical bulk is simply a brilliant combination of traits. It can even replace Hippowdon in balance squads should you carry a Wish passer like Umbreon or Vaporeon.

If you haven't given Gligar a chance yet, please, please consider using it.


:gs/mew:
Mew @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Synchronize
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Earth Power

:gs/mew:
Mew @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Synchronize
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic Noise
- Fire Blast
- Draining Kiss

Mew in general is an underrated mon. Both of these sets try to accomplish the same goal, that goal being breaking balance cores effortlessly. They each have matchups they do better into, the bulkier set being more stallbreaker-y with a winning matchup against VinCune, and the offensive set being better into... well, opposing offense/HO.
 
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:pmd/zoroark-hisui:
Zoroark-Hisui @ Throat Spray
Ability: Illusion
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Nasty Plot

while Zoroark-Hisui is mostly used as a choice mon, it can also work as a powerful HO revenge killer thanks to it's high natural speed on a structure often lacking immediate speed, it's STABs and Focus Blast allows it to hit everything except other Zoroark-Hisui which aren't very common, throat spray, the big originality of this set is a powerful item on a mon that doesn't really need it's item and can be easily activated when revenge killing a weakened foe and making it's good special attack stat very threatening, it normally often runs boots on nasty plot sets, which isn't very useful with a suicide lead like lycanrock making sure the rocks won't be on your side of the field, nasty plot allows you to boost further on mons like weezing galar and other weak defensive mons that might also stay on the field and try to chip you or burn you thanks to your ability Illusion making the opponent think you are something you aren't, throat spray being a single use item also means that cyclizard's knock off will not kill you once it's used, while the boost it gives you will let you one shot it back with focus blast which also threatens umbreon and goodra-hisui, tera fighting is used for the dark resist and the boost to focus blast letting you 2HKO chansey at +2 https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-gen9ru-2188834604
 
Elec-ant1234 said:
Here's one for the books that I and others have touted on the RU Discord that I think has some legit merit.

:sv/zapdos-galar:

Zapdos (Zapdos-Galar)
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunderous Kick
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off
- Taunt

That's right, it's itemless gapdos. While this set loses out on the speed and sheer power of the choice band/ choice scarf sets, it makes up for it for being able to completely blindside most people while still retaining the positives of Gapdos's power. I'll be real, I can't tell you how many time's I've led with this set onto a cyclizar and completely decimated a gengar switching in with knock, it's hilarious how often it happens. But the real merit to this set is it's flexibility and ability to give you a free Knock Off switch-in right out of the gate in a match. You could run U-turn and probably be pretty solid with that set, but Taunt is actually kinda nasty on Gapdos, as it lets you prevent it from becoming set-up fodder in some matchups (it particularly lets you make Hippowdon's day miserable, knocking the Helm and preventing rocks). Thunderous Kick is probably the most off-brand move here, but with Itemless Gapdos's flexibility it's actually really solid, allowing you to soften up and pressure switch-in's, allowing you to continue your offense with a team-member or just go for a hail-mary and get some chip in on a valuable target. Like, since it reduces your opponent's defense it's essentially the same as getting an attack raise, (ok it's not the same but your damage increases is the big thing, meaning this is the only way you can offensively "boost up"). Try it out, it's honestly pretty solid, and you'll be surprised at how long it can stick around when Gapdos's two main stab options don't make it die in 2-3 turns. Of course the whole speed thing is an issue at times, and it does need someone faster to help clean up, but it's a strong breaker and can pull its weight.

Tera Steel lets it go blow-for-blow with the fairys of the tier and not get completely clowned on by Fez and Garde


252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 0 Def Okidogi: 468-552 (123.1 - 145.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO (assuming they switch into a T-kick)

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 144+ Def Fezandipiti: 240-283 (63.1 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Crawdaunt: 330-390 (123.5 - 146%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 320-378 (92.7 - 109.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO (93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock)

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Krookodile: 344-408 (103.9 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 210-248 (53.2 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 178-210 (45.1 - 53.2%) -- 32.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 237-279 (60.1 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Basculegion-F: 294-346 (77.1 - 90.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Suicune: 154-183 (38.1 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk burned Zapdos-Galar Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. -1 252 HP / 4 Def Suicune: 116-137 (28.7 - 33.9%) -- 0.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Click to expand...
I'd like to expand on itemless Gapdos, as probably the second most devout fan of the impovrished bird. I'm more of a fan of u-turn over taunt, but the principle is still the same.
1st point: scarf gapdos feels like a waste as a scarfer when gapdos is so good at switching into knock off. With more krookodiles than ever running taunt, you really really really want to use gapdos to exploit them, but too many teams using scarf gapdos fall apart if you lose your speed control. So the solution is to run annother scarfer and something ellse on Gapdos.
2nd point: don't think of itemless as giving up an item for a power boost, think of it as using an item that is basically rock head, and then think about how much health you lose to brave bird damage compared to hazards. In most games, you end up taking way more damage from brave bird than stealth rocks, so why not use the item that removes that recoil? Additionally, running acrobatics means you are more free to just click your flying move; a move that has very few resistances in this tier. With brave bird you are always afraid of clicking the move as they switch to slowbro and taking free chip damage that they then regenerate off. With acrobatics, you click it as they switch in, then you u-turn out and you have done solid chip to their phys wall without losing any HP.
For my contribution to this thread, I'd like to share a set that I've used a lot on ladder recently for more offensive teams: rocks scale shot Flygon

:sv/flygon::loaded-dice:Flygon @ Loaded Dice :loaded-dice::sv/flygon:
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Scale Shot​
This set started with me considering standard rocks/lefties Flygon. Then I found myself considering a few things. 1: I really wanted a dragon attack since it has such good coverage and makes you very solid into fliers like Thundurus and Noivern, but outrage and dragon claw both kinda suck and also mean you become vulnerable to rocky helmet. 2: I want to use Flygon as a speed control mon but don't want to run scarf/give up on your offensive rocker with u-turn. 3: Leftovers are neat, but sometimes you feel like you take so little damage or are running fast enough teams that you don't need the chip heal. The solution: loaded dice+scale shot. This makes Flygon into a bigger offensive threat while still keeping your utility and not fully committing to a dragon dance set. It feels particularly good vs mons in that 101+ speed tier range like Cyclizar, Thundurus, terrakion, Zoroark and Noivern by being able to stop a revenge kill or catching them on a switch. A Thundurus trying to switch into a flygon only to get hit with scale shot not only takes big chip, but becomes a victim that is now forced to switch out, either forcing chip on something else or letting you click u-turn as they switch to a beefy mon. Same thing goes for Cyclizars that get greedy and assume you aren't running a dragon move and they can spin as they scare you out, only to get hit with a scale shot on the switch or a tera steel+scale shot. It's definitely a lot less flexible than leftovers, but you get a lot out of having an actually good dragon attack. Dragon/ground is a combo so good it forced Gamefreak to introduce a brand new type to the game, try actually using it.
 
:reuniclus::sv/reuniclus::reuniclus: OTR Reuniclus :reuniclus::sv/reuniclus::reuniclus:​

Reuniclus is a somewhat polarizing Pokemon in RU to me, as it struggles to fit onto teams given the pretty direct competition it faces in the form of Slowbro, but people seem to be overlooking arguably the best set it has to offer - OTR. OTR for those who don't know stands for Offensive Trick Room, which is essentially a Pokemon that can set its own Trick Room and immediately go to work offensively, as opposed to Trick Room setters like Bronzong and Porygon2 which set TR for others to take advantage of.

:reuniclus: Reuniclus @ Life Orb :reuniclus:
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Steel / Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Focus Blast
- Psychic Noise
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room​

The set above is my typical go-to when building around OTR Reuniclus, as it has the offensive capacity to hit basically everything in the metagame for massive damage. Tera Steel is my preference, but Fairy works as well to prevent opposing priority revenge killers like Bisharp and Slither Wing from ruining the fun, as well as the nice immunity to Dragon. Relying on Focus Blast to nuke the likes of Cyclizar, Hisuian Goodra, and Registeel can be a bit annoying, but setting TR means you have multiple turns to dish out damage so it's a necessary evil. Psychic Noise is a sneakily broken move and Shadow Ball obliterates Jirachi and opposing Psychic-types.

Below is a team I built to demonstrate OTR Reuniclus - nothing too special, don't wanna reveal trade secrets and all...

:cyclizar::empoleon::krookodile::reuniclus::slither-wing::thundurus:
 
Unsure how "Underrated" this set is but I did see a lot of people dismiss it and there is a few things to say about it.

Defog Conkeldurr
:bw/conkeldurr:
Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Defog

Drain Punch for recovery, Mach Punch is an obligatory priority, Knock Off hits Ghosts and trust me, you'll remove half a team's items every game.
Leftovers gives some nice passive recovery, and Tera Steel grants a Poison (and Toxic/Toxic Chain (!!) by extension) immunity as well as a Fairy, Psychic, Flying AND Dragon resistance (the latter being key to bait Hoodra). 44 Speed EVs to outspeed Chansey and Drain Punch before it uses Seismic Toss.

Conkeldurr has no problem Defogging seeing how many switches it forces and the fact that it pressures many of our rockers quite nicely. Not only does Conkeldurr provide entry hazard removal, it is still an amazing offense mon that brings a decently strong priority and status absorption, which makes it a great option against both HO and Stall.

Conkeldurr is also a great asset when facing H-Goodra + Umbreon/Vaporeon + G-Weezing teams with a timely Tera thanks to the combination of Steel-typing, Guts, and sky-high Attack.

Defog Conkeldurr is truly a great Pokemon currently and I recommend you try it out in your next offense or balance teams.
 
Leftovers Sub QDB (Quiver Dance Bee)

:sv/ribombee:
Ribombee @ Leftovers
Ability: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 8 HP / 252 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Draining Kiss
- Tera Blast
- Substitute

A variation of classic Bee QD sets with the addition of Leftovers and Draining Kiss for survivability, and Substitute to absorb some status moves and scout for defensive Teras. It also forces a bunch of 50/50s against Bisharp. Fairy+Ground coverage is more than enough, Bug Buzz sux and bee doesn't have any move to hit Talonflame with anyway. This set's worst matchup is Talonflame, naturally. This set's niche over other QD Bee sets is that the added recovery helps Bee working as a switch-in to many common mons like Draco/Fang Noivern or even stuff like Flygon and 2 attacks Krookodile, and use its natural speed to revenge kill many threats due to the surprising power of Tera Blast Ground. This set is a Tera hog, but the combination of natural speed, quiver dance, and Fairy/Ground coverage can dismantle entire teams easily after some chip on the bulkiest mons in the opposing team.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2239159287?p2
Ribombee uses Noivern as setup fodder and proceeds to take 80% of HP away from both Registeel and Wo-Chien. It then helps pick off the opponent's mon late-game thanks to its unmatched speed. This replay shows the value of Leftovers and Draining Kiss, how Ribombee can punch through defensive cores, and use its natural speed and Tera Ground's power to clean things off with Gapdos's help.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2239187800-wurkxwqfsabzyrhevkoany1atzju7gepw
Not quite the same performance as the previous game, but it shows how Ribombee uses Noivern for safe entry points. It also takes a sizable chunk of HP away from Suicune.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2239780125
Ribombee sets up on a paralyzed Registeel and sweeps an entire team early thanks to Draining Kiss's recovery and Substitute easing setup and scouting for Tera
 
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With RUPL just around the corner, i'd like to share with you a mon that, in my opinion, is highly underrated.

:sv/tornadus:
Tornadus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Bleakwind Storm
- Focus Blast
- U-turn
- Heat Wave

Despite his ugly-duckling reputation, the weakest of the geniuses quator has convincing arguments for being a niche mon. Firstly, he has a huge SpA in addition to an easily spammable stab, making it very difficult to check.
He also has a perfect movepool for him, with tools like Heat Wave to do serious damage on Jirachi or Registeel, Focus Blast which, combined with Tera Fight, enables it to annihilate his common checks like Hoodra AV, Umbreon and Empoleon, which can otherwise just be switched on. U-turn gives momentum back to his team. The problem of the mon is his fragile bulk, which certainly allows him to tank weak hits or come on offensive threats like Slither Wing with his Fly type, but he will revenge killed easily by mons like Scarf Gapdos or faster mons like Barraskewda.
The mon will need support to remove his weaknesses with a team based on hazard removal and volt-turn teams for keepin the momentum.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-2308535021 : This replay shows Tornadus' strengths when he surrounded by the right team. The WishPass provided by Jirachi allows him to last throughout the game and spam his STABs with ease, while Geezing and Cycli can remove the hazards.


252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Fezandipiti: 196-232 (51.5 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Weezing-Galar: 319-376 (95.5 - 112.5%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 104 HP / 152 SpD Assault Vest Cyclizar: 184-217 (59.9 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tornadus Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Jirachi: 302-356 (74.7 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tera Fighting Tornadus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Registeel: 308-366 (84.6 - 100.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tera Fighting Tornadus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Umbreon: 342-404 (86.8 - 102.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
 
not an incredibly rare moveset but no thread would be complete without:
Mixed Crawdaunt (Mr Craw )
Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Liquidation
- Knock Off
- Ice Beam
:sv/crawdaunt:

Remember those times you wanted to sweep with your Crawdaunt, but they kept switching in their tera grass'd Slowbro or Chesnaught? Click ice beam on the switch in to watch their faces drop in real time as their precious mon takes that nice chip and no longer is capable of switching in again. Every time you use this set, you will see the opponent stop for 20-30 seconds trying to process what just happened to them. 10% of the time you poison every time. Let's you hit fairies too, I guess, but you might as well just womp them with liquidation.

Bonus points for gaslighting your foe into thinking it's some kind of special set so that you can womp their special wall when they switch in next time, but that only works against mid ladder.

Thick Fat Hariyama (Flesh Hands)
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Thick Fat
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 84 HP / 208 Atk / 96 Def / 120 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Stone Edge
:sv/hariyama:
RU's premier anti-rain off meta pick. Hariyama let's you break down any and all common rain sweeper and OHKO or 2HKO (with BP to finish it off) in return. It's bulk even lets it survive physatkers like Barraskewda's CB liquidation under rain. If you're running up against mono rain sweeper teams, you can even survive Kingra's hurricane with the T grass already used AFTER being hit by a choice specs basculegion-F's surf or shadow ball.

Stab CC is strong enough to body most of RU due to Hariyama's impressive attack stat (Base 120) making it difficult to switch into. Bullet punch isn't enough to scare away mons like Weezing-G however the priority on such a slow mon is appreciated. Stone Edge can be used to hit grass/fairy/flying types for chip and fishing for crits on switch-ins. Knock off is always a great utility.

Best used with a wish-passer like Jirachi to maximise survivability. Jirachi also offsets your weaknesses to poison and flying.
 
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